"Cotton" Ketchie’s Landmark Galleries is home to nationally known watercolorist and Mooresville native, "Cotton" Ketchie. From the beginning, "Cotton" chose Landmark Galleries as the name for his gallery. "I feel an obligation to preserve our landmarks and our heritage through my paintings" he explains. His works include lighthouses of North Carolina and Maine, scenes from the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Mountains of NC, local and state landmarks, as well as, beautiful florals.

"Cotton" and his wife, Vickie, invite you to visit Landmark Galleries. Let his paintings take you back to places you have traveled and inspire you to explore the unending beauty of our world. Listen as "Cotton" makes his works come alive as he shares his stories with you. Preserving our heritage today is his passion and will surely someday be his legacy.

"Cotton began his career as an artist 25 years ago. At that time, he was a menswear buyer for Belk Department Store. During sales meetings, he would sketch on his sales books and co-workers would take the covers and have them framed. During this time he was also sketching original pencil drawings of friend’s homeplaces to supplement his income…the growing demand for his work soon launched his career. Today "Cotton" Ketchie’s works can be found in collections throughout Europe, Asia, the United States, and Canada including the private collections of the former Governor of North Carolina, Jim Martin and the former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles. "Cotton" was selected as the featured artist for the 2004 North Carolina Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

The artist has now become well known for his dramatic photographs taken from all over the United Staes and Canada. In addition to his art and photography, he is preserving our heritage through his writing. His first two books, Memories of a Country Boy and and A Country Boy's Education have captured humorous vignettes of his life growing up in rural North Carolina. Ketchie's first work of fiction, Little Did They Know, is a love-story suspense novel set in the Piedmont and mountains of North Carolina. A sequel, Trouble in Love Valley is now available and has proven to be a best seller.

He serves on the local Wachovia Bank Board of Directors,is a board member of Mitchell College Endowment, and is an active Rotarian. He is a Paul Harris Fellow, and is past president of the Mooresville/Lake Norman Rotary Club. Cotton's wife, Vickie, is the past president of the North Carolina District Exchange Clubs and he assists her in her travels and endeavors. For many years, he served on theboard of SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) which is the center for the prevention of child abuse for Iredell County.

On almost any day, a visitor to Landmark Galleries will find "Cotton" working on an original watercolor or giving guided tour of his upstairs museum that houses his collections of hand-carved decoys, model boats, lighthouse models, and North Carolina pottery that features pieces dating back to the 1800’s.

In addition to "Cotton’s original watercolors, visitors to his gallery can find NC made pottery, and a complete framing service. "Cotton’s" works are available in limited edition prints, giclée and decorator editions. "Cotton" Ketchie’s Landmark Galleries is located at 212 North Main Street in downtown Mooresville, NC. The hours of operations are Monday-Saturday from 9:00am-5:00pm…Sundays and evenings are by appointment. For more information visit our gallery or sign up for our e-newsletter.